Supporting Urban and Innovative Farming Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill helps people grow food in cities and indoor spaces like greenhouses. It gives the Department of Agriculture more money to support urban farmers who use modern methods like hydroponics, which is a way to grow plants in water instead of soil.
• The plan provides $15 million in guaranteed yearly funding and up to $50 million more for grants. These grants can go to schools, local governments, and nonprofits to help start or grow city farms. These groups can then pass that money down to individual farmers to help their businesses grow, especially in neighborhoods where fresh food is hard to find.
• Farmers would get expert help with the difficult parts of starting and running a city business. This includes understanding local building laws, managing small or separate plots of land, and learning how to handle city-specific issues like managing rainwater or farming on urban soil.
• The bill makes a temporary testing program permanent and expands it to include Tribal governments and United States territories. It also provides $18 million a year to collect better data on how much food is being grown in cities during every national farm census to help the government better understand the industry.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.